House with more than 140 cats under contract, likely to be renovated

By Carol Christian |
April 22, 2014
| Updated: April 22, 2014 4:53pm

Houston SPCA members remove over 100 cats from a home on Line Camp Thursday 03/27/14. SPCA spokesperson Meera Nandlal said there was one dead and decomposing cat in the house and in some parts the feces was over 4 feet high. Photo by Tony Bullard.

Mercedes Bishop (at left) (with the Houston SPCA) loads animals into their van as Jeanine Tillman labels the kennels with the names of her cats as Houston SPCA members remove over 100 cats from her and her sister's home on Line Camp Thursday 03/27/14. SPCA spokesperson Meera Nandlal said there was one dead and decomposing cat in the house and in some parts the feces was over 4 feet high. Photo by Tony Bullard.

Jeanette Tillman is attended to by medics as Houston SPCA members remove over 100 cats from her and her sister's home on Line Camp Thursday 03/27/14. SPCA spokesperson Meera Nandlal said there was one dead and decomposing cat in the house and in some parts the feces was over 4 feet high. Photo by Tony Bullard.

Jeanette Tillman is attended to by medics as Houston SPCA members remove over 100 cats from her and her sister's home on Line Camp Thursday 03/27/14. SPCA spokesperson Meera Nandlal said there was one dead and decomposing cat in the house and in some parts the feces was over 4 feet high. Photo by Tony Bullard.

Jeanette Tillman is attended to by medics and Harris County Sheriffs Department Chaplain Howell as Houston SPCA members remove over 100 cats from her and her sister's home on Line Camp Thursday 03/27/14. SPCA spokesperson Meera Nandlal said there was one dead and decomposing cat in the house and in some parts the feces was over 4 feet high. Photo by Tony Bullard.

Jeanine Tillman is distraught as Houston SPCA members remove over 100 cats from her and her sister's home on Line Camp Thursday 03/27/14. SPCA spokesperson Meera Nandlal said there was one dead and decomposing cat in the house and in some parts the feces was over 4 feet high. Photo by Tony Bullard.

Mercedes Bishop (at left) (with the Houston SPCA) loads animals into their van as Jeanine Tillman labels the kennels with the names of her cats as Houston SPCA members remove over 100 cats from her and her sister's home on Line Camp Thursday 03/27/14. SPCA spokesperson Meera Nandlal said there was one dead and decomposing cat in the house and in some parts the feces was over 4 feet high. Photo by Tony Bullard.

Jeanette Tillman is attended to by medics as Houston SPCA members remove over 100 cats from her and her sister's home on Line Camp Thursday 03/27/14. SPCA spokesperson Meera Nandlal said there was one dead and decomposing cat in the house and in some parts the feces was over 4 feet high. Photo by Tony Bullard.

Houston SPCA video crew members wear breathing masks as they come out of a home on Line Camp with over 100 cats Thursday 03/27/14. SPCA spokesperson Meera Nandlal said there was one dead and decomposing cat in the house and in some parts the feces was over 4 feet high. Photo by Tony Bullard.

Jeanette Tillman (in red) speaks to her sister Jeanine (in black) as she is attended to by medics as Houston SPCA members remove over 100 cats from her and her sister's home on Line Camp Thursday 03/27/14. SPCA spokesperson Meera Nandlal said there was one dead and decomposing cat in the house and in some parts the feces was over 4 feet high. Photo by Tony Bullard.

Jeanine Tillman is distraught as Houston SPCA members remove over 100 cats from her and her sister's home on Line Camp Thursday 03/27/14. SPCA spokesperson Meera Nandlal said there was one dead and decomposing cat in the house and in some parts the feces was over 4 feet high. Photo by Tony Bullard.

Jeanette Tillman is attended to by medics as Houston SPCA members remove over 100 cats from her and her sister's home on Line Camp Thursday 03/27/14. SPCA spokesperson Meera Nandlal said there was one dead and decomposing cat in the house and in some parts the feces was over 4 feet high. Photo by Tony Bullard.

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A northwest Harris County home where authorities confiscated more than 140 cats last month is in the process of being sold.

Cheryl Barta, a Realtor with The Reyna Realty Group, said Tuesday the new buyer is expected to close on the property next week and will renovate it completely. Barta represents the seller.

The home in the 7300 block of Linecamp Court, where two sisters lived for a number of years, had become filthy with cat feces, authorities said.

Deputies with Harris County Precinct 1 Constable's Office and the Houston Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals removed 144 cats from the house on March 27.

"We're having to walk in mounds of feces," a constable's office spokesman said at the time.

The incident has been traumatic for the sisters, one of whom is ill with cancer, Barta said. Both women now have comfortable living arrangements elsewhere, she said.

From talking with the women's family members, Barta said she had heard that most of the cats were in good condition.

"The sisters were taking such good care of the animals that they were not caring for themselves," Barta said. "For all the animal lovers out there, these two ladies loved the cats and took quite good care of them, except for their surroundings."

Houston SPCA spokeswoman Meera Nandlal said the agency received permanent custody of all 144 cats on April 18 and was still in the process of evaluating them.

"We anticipate that the first of the cats will be available for adoption as early as this week," Nandlal said Tuesday.

One unfortunate aspect of the story, Barta said, is that at one point the sisters were caring for only five cats. As word got around, however, people started dropping off other cats at their doorstep.

"With one of the women being very ill, it became overwhelming for her," Barta said. "It was a very unfortunate situation."

As for their house and the planned renovation, Barta said her understanding is that the buyer is a man with a construction company.

"He has the connections and the tradesmen to fix the home up," she said. "He's building a lovely new home."